Is there anything these people won’t lie about? It’s becoming increasingly clear that not only do Republicans have no prescription for improving the country, and that they have only one goal now that they’re back in a power-sharing relationship (namely, to throw sand in the gears of the Obama government) — but that the only arrow in their entire quiver is fear. Scare Grandma; scare the poor; scare the middle class. Brown and black people are scary; George Soros is scary; “elites” are scary; the Obamas (yes, including Michelle) are scary. Jesus, even Barbara Bush is scary; Sarah Palin isn’t. Raising the tax rate on the superrich is scary; increasing it on the middle and working classes isn’t. Inflation is scary (even when it doesn’t exist!). Be afraid of opposition to government-sponsored torture; but don’t fear what torture has turned us into. Be afraid of government bailouts; but don’t fear banks, bankers, and hedge-fund con men.

Personally, I’m starting to get tired of the Palins, mostly because as one commenter put it the other day (I can’t remember who), I can’t keep track of which one is calling people faggots on Facebook, which one got pregnant, which one David Letterman made fun of, and which one is on Dancing With The Stars.

As hard it might be for hardcore baseball fans to believe, sportswriters voting for the American League Cy Young Award overcame their historic prejudice in favor of wins and rightly recognized Seattle’s Felix Hernandez as the AL’s best pitcher. Winning only 13 games in back of the historically bad Mariner offense, King Felix nevertheless led the league in ERA, innings pitched, and batting average against; and finished second in strikeouts (by one).

And don’t give me that “What about C.C.?” crap. Yeah, Sabathia led the league in wins with 21. Big deal — he went 10-1 against the three last-place teams in the league. The writers overlooked the wins and gave the Cy to the best pitcher in the league — by far.

As one of its first acts, the new Congress will consider denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States.

Those children, who are now automatically granted citizenship at birth, will be one of the first targets of the Republican-led House when it convenes in January.

This is, well, amazing — and yet not. Not, because it’s par for the Republican course. Not satisfied with getting less than twenty percent of the Latino vote, the GOP is intent on getting that number down to the single digits. More power to ’em, I say. They simply can’t honestly believe that this legislative proposal will solve any problem, let alone help with the issue of illegal immigration. But, as They Say, when all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Perhaps Republicans have heard of the Constitution? Here’s a refresher, from the Fourteenth Amendment:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

Not “some”; not “white”; not “legal”; not “Republican.” ALL, you nitwits. . . .